19. Seven Samurai (1954)

A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Writers: Akira Kurosawa (screenplay), Shinobu Hashimoto(screenplay) | 1 more credit »

Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima

Story:
Marauding bandits approach a rural mountain village, but their chief decides to spare it until after the harvest because they had raided it before. The plan is overheard by a farmer who tells the rest of village. Lamenting their fate, three farmers ask Gisaku, the village elder and miller, for advice. He declares they should hire samurai to defend the village. Since they have no money to offer, Gisaku tells them to find hungry samurai.

After little success in finding any recruits, the group witness Kambei, an aging but experienced rōnin, rescue a young boy who had been taken hostage by a thief. A young inexperienced samurai named Katsushirō also approaches Kambei to become his disciple. The villagers then ask for his help, and after initial reluctance, Kambei agrees. In turn the aged rōnin recruits old friend Shichirōji and, with Katsushirō's assistance, three other samurai: the friendly and strategic Gorobei; the good-willed Heihachi; and Kyūzō, a taciturn master swordsman whom Katsushirō regards with awe. Although inexperienced, Katsushirō is taken as a sixth recruit because time is short. Kikuchiyo, a man who carries a family scroll that he claims makes him a samurai, follows the group to the village despite attempts to drive him away.

On arrival the samurai find the villagers cowering in their homes refusing to greet them. Feeling insulted by such a cold reception, Kikuchiyo rings the village alarm bell prompting the frightened villagers to come out of hiding. The samurai are both pleased and amused by this and accept him as their seventh comrade-in-arms. Slowly the samurai and the farmers begin to trust each other as they train together in preparation for the return of the bandits. Katsushirō forms a relationship with Shino, a farmer's daughter, who had been forced to masquerade as a boy for protection from the supposedly lustful samurai. However the six samurai are angered when Kikuchiyo brings them samurai armor and weapons; equipment that the villagers had mostly likely acquired from killing other injured or dying samurai. But Kikuchiyo retaliates and castigates the group. He points out that samurai are responsible for battles, raids, taxation and forced labor that devastate the lives of villagers. By doing so he reveals his origin as an orphaned farmer's son. The anger of the samurai turns to shame.

Shortly before the raid, three bandit scouts are seen. Two are killed while another reveals the location of their camp. Against the wishes of the samurai, the prisoner is lynched by the villagers. The bandits' camp is burned down in a pre-emptive strike. However the attack costs Heihachi his life. Rikichi, who helps the samurai, watches in horror as his wife, who had been kidnapped and raped by the bandits, immolates herself in shame.

When the bandits attack the village they are confounded by the village's new fortifications, including a moat and wooden fence. Several bandits are killed according to Kambei's plan. As they individually try and enter the village, they are hunted down and killed using phalanxes of farmers armed with bamboo spears. But Gisaku, the village elder, refuses to abandon his mill on the outskirts of the village and perishes with his family who die trying to save him. A lone baby is rescued by Kikuchiyo who breaks down in tears as it reminds him of his own childhood.

The bandits possess three Japanese matchlock firearms. Kyūzō ventures off alone and returns with one. An envious Kikuchiyo abandons his post—and his contingent of farmers—to bring back another gun. But his action is castigated by Kambei because, while he was gone, the bandits attacked, killing some of his farmers. The bandit chief attacks again and Gorobei is slain. That night Kambei instructs everyone, including a remorseful Kikuchiyo, that due to their dwindling numbers, the bandits will make an all-out effort to take the village in a final, decisive battle. Meanwhile, the relationship Katsushirō is having with Shino is discovered by her father. He hits her until Kambei and the village intervene. Shichirōji calms the situation by saying they should be forgiven because they are young and that before any battle passions can run high.

The next morning in a torrential downpour, Kambei orders that the remaining thirteen bandits be allowed into the village. As the battle winds down their leader, armed with a gun, enters the women's hut from where he shoots Kyūzō. An enraged Kikuchiyo charges the hut only to be shot as well; he nevertheless manages to kill the bandit chief as his final act before dying. With the fighting over, Kambei and Shichirōji observe that they have survived once again.

In an epilogue, the three surviving samurai watch as the joyful villagers sing while planting their crops. Kambei—standing beneath the funeral mounds of his four dead comrades—reflects that it's another pyrrhic victory for the samurai. While they gained nothing for their sacrifice, the farmers' reward is their lands.